IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 38 

Recognizing National Emancipation Day, marking the 150th anniversary of 

the end of slavery in areas of rebellion, and the significance of the 

Emancipation Proclamation in the struggle for the equal rights and 

freedoms afforded to all United States citizens. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 18, 2013 

Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. FARR, Mr. CLAY, Mr. 

HONDA, Ms. NORTON, Ms. CHU, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 

Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. 

SPEIER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. ELLMERS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. 

MORAN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. NADLER, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Mr. COSTA, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 

MEEKS, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. FATTAH, 

Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. WATT, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 

POLIS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. COHEN, Ms. 

CLARKE, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. WATERS, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CASTOR of 

Florida, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. TONKO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. GUTIERREZ, 

Mr. PETERS of Michigan, Mr. PITTS, Mr. CHABOT, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. 

MICHAUD, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. TERRY, Mr. LARSEN of 

Washington, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. HIGGINS, 

Mr. DELANEY, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. BASS, 

Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. HORSFORD, 

Mr. LONG, and Ms. SLAUGHTER) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing National Emancipation Day, marking the 150th 

anniversary of the end of slavery in areas of rebellion, 

and the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation 


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•HRES 38 IH 

in the struggle for the equal rights and freedoms afforded to all United States citizens. 

Whereas in 1619, a ship flying the Dutch flag stopped at Old 

Point Comfort in the Virginia Colony with 20 Africans 

onboard; 

Whereas the arrival of these 20 Africans to the Virginia Peninsula marked the beginning of more than 200 years of 

captivity for Africans in the United States; 

Whereas President Abraham Lincoln, during the American 

Civil War and in accordance with the war powers vested 

to him issued a proclamation on September 22, 1862, declaring that on the first day of January, 1863, ‘‘all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part 

of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion 

against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, 

and forever free’’; 

Whereas the Emancipation Proclamation, as an Executive 

order, legally emancipated millions of slaves in the States 

of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, and North 

Carolina; 

Whereas for two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation 

Proclamation became official, Texas slaves were held in 

bondage and only after June 19, 1865, when Union Soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, were African-American 

slaves in that State set free; 

Whereas, on December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment 

to the United States Constitution, which reads ‘‘Neither 

slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment 

for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place 


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•HRES 38 IH 

subject to their jurisdiction’’, was adopted and effectively 

outlawed slavery in the United States; 

Whereas the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation was 

a significant precursor to the adoption of the Thirteenth, 

Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United 

States Constitution, also known as the Reconstruction 

Amendments, adopted between 1865 and 1870, as well as 

the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the National Voting Rights 

Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 among 

others; and 

Whereas slaves and their descendants in the United States 

have contributed significantly to the foundation, growth, 

diversity, and leadership of the United States: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives recog2 nizes National Emancipation Day, marking the 150th an3 niversary of the beginning of the end of slavery in areas 

4 of rebellion, and the significance of the Emancipation 

5 Proclamation in the struggle for the equal rights and free6 doms afforded to all United States citizens. 

Æ 


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